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Multiple-Meaning Words

A multiple-meaning word is spelled and said the same way but means different things: a bat flies at night, and you hit a ball with a bat. Context is the only clue, which is why these words are such good reading practice.

Here are 124 multiple-meaning words from past ClueBy puzzles, each with a real example sentence for every meaning. Use them as a reference, or make a printable worksheet below.

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Students read each sentence and write the missing word. Every word appears in several sentences, each time with a different meaning.

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Word bank
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Multiple-Meaning Words

Name: ____________________Date: __________

Write the missing word from the word bank in each sentence. Each word is used more than once, with a different meaning each time.

Word bank: bay · wind · bear · swing · kid · shower

  1. Many happy returns to all who ________________ the name of a flower!
  2. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  3. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  4. A black ________________ roamed the forest.
  5. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  6. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  7. Close the lid of the trash can to keep odors and pests at ________________.
  8. My mare is ________________ in color.
  9. The little girl was crying for the teddy ________________.
  10. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  11. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  12. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  13. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  14. The sailing ship dropped anchor in the ________________.
  15. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  16. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  17. David sat on the ________________.
  18. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.

Sentences from ClueBy, Tatoeba (CC BY 2.0 FR) and Common Voice (CC0). clueby.com

Answer key

  1. bear — to put up with
  2. shower — to wash
  3. kid — to tease
  4. bear — the animal
  5. wind — moving air
  6. kid — child
  7. bay — to keep at bay
  8. bay — a horse colour
  9. bear — the animal
  10. wind — moving air
  11. shower — rain
  12. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  13. shower — a meteor shower
  14. bay — a part of the sea
  15. wind — to turn a key
  16. swing — in golf
  17. swing — to play on
  18. swing — music

Multiple-meaning words list

Tick up to 10 words to build a worksheet with just those words.

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Frequently asked questions

What are multiple-meaning words?

Words with the same spelling and pronunciation but more than one meaning, like bark (of a dog or of a tree) or bank (for money or of a river). You can only tell which meaning is meant from the rest of the sentence.

Are multiple-meaning words the same as homonyms?

Mostly, yes. Teachers often use "multiple-meaning words" and "homonyms" for the same idea. Homophones are different: they sound alike but are spelled differently, like flour and flower.

Are the worksheets free?

Yes. Make and print as many as you like for home or classroom use. Each sheet has its own link, so you can print the same one again.

Where do the words come from?

From past ClueBy puzzles, a daily game where you sort twelve sentences by their missing word. A new puzzle every day adds four more words to this list.

Sentences from ClueBy, Tatoeba (CC BY 2.0 FR) and Common Voice (CC0). clueby.com